Thoughts: Christmas 2011
by Francesca Montag
Summary: The Doctor & Rose during Christmas time - what could be better? Contains fluff, angst, but always fun :  Nine, Ten & Rose Tyler  and perhaps some cameos from supporting characters
1. Snowed In & Hot Chocolate

_Some Christmas drabbles from some Christmas-themed prompts :)_

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><p><strong>Thoughts: Christmas 2011<strong>

_snowed in_

"Alright! Well then, here we are...the Nexus of Phoom," the Doctor dashed across the console room, grabbing his coat along the way, "I tell you Rose, it's gonna be brilliant..."

Rose, however, was preoccupied with the image that was displayed across the console's screen, "Uh, Doctor, I think..."

As was his habit, the Doctor didn't hear a word since he hadn't quite stopped talking, "Why aren't you moving Rose? Come along then..." and with a quick movement, he made to open the Tardis doors.

"Doctor," her voice a bit louder and her face with worry, "I really don't think you should..."

But she saw that it was too late - as the pile of snow that had stood so tightly packed against the Tardis doors was now very much inside the Tardis, dripping past the grating and piled neatly along and, well, on the Doctor's trainers.

"What is this!" he exclaimed, so honestly surprised at the sight of snow.

Rose couldn't help but chuckle as she walked over to him and helped him dislodge himself from the snow, "Like I was sayin', yea'? That you shouldn't open the doors because of the snow."

"How did you know there was snow?" His eyebrows perked with curiosity.

She laughed and made to close the doors as well as she could, "Funny how the console screen can be useful at times like these."

The Doctor looked down at his wet trainers and pouted.

"Seriously now, Doctor, you should go and change. Seems like we have a proper 'snow in' now," despite the worry of the Doctor becoming ill due to the cold, there was a pleased note in her voice.

"Well, it won't ruin our plans really, I just have to change into something drier, then we'll be on our way," he noted happily.

"Oh," Rose's grin dimmed as she headed back to the console seat.

Noticing the sudden change in reaction, the Doctor kicked at the snow so it fell between the crevices of the grating. The drips and plops of snow could be heard hitting underneath him.

"If we were snowed in, by chance, what would that mean?"

Rose swung her legs over the armrest and smiled brilliantly, "Oh, we could have some hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies and laugh and I could make us some cookies probably."

"Christmas?" again the Doctor looked confused as time was rather relative in the Tardis.

"Well, it's Christmas somewhere, somewhen, why not today, yea'?"

The Doctor couldn't help but smile. The idea of drinking hot chocolate, eating freshly-baked cookies while watching movies with Rose was too tempting to resist.

"Weeellllll, perhaps I was too rash in saying that our situation was so completely fixable as such," he drabbled.

Rose sat up straighter, "Yea'?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor smiled as Rose's laugh echoed through the Tardis.

_hot chocolate_

Rose dropped the last hard chunk of chocolate into the slightly boiling pot of milk. She stirred and watched as the lumps slowly became smaller and smaller until the milk turned a delicious shade of brown.

The oven dinged and she quickly (but safely) placed the wooden spoon on the side of the stove so it sat upon a small plate she had found in the cupboard. She shoved her hands into a couple of oven mitts and opened the oven door. The scent of chocolate chip cookies wafted in the air around her. The smell made her involuntarily salivate. The Doctor was going to love this!

They had been to visit her mum about a week before and she had realized that it was close to Christmas. She knew, of course, that the Doctor wouldn't be bothered with such a thing, but that didn't mean that she couldn't celebrate in her own way.

She placed the sheet of cookies on the counter to cool off and continued stirring the hot chocolate. A smile broke out on her lips as she realized that they had a can of whipped cream that would go lovely on the two steaming mugs of hot chocolate she planned to serve them. She quickly took out the can, as well as the two containers of sprinkles (red & green) she had bought before leaving earth. It would look great sprinkled on the whipped cream, she thought.

Then they would grab the plate of cookies and watch at least one Christmas movie of her choosing in the Tardis's TV room. Rose wasn't entirely sure how she was going to convince her brooding Doctor to join her, but no matter how much he hid in that leather jacket of his, she knew that he would succumb to her eventually.

Rose had just turned off the stove and reached up for two of their largest mugs when she could practically hear the Doctor fuming as he came through the door.

"Rose, how many times have I told you not to leave your things around the console! What is so hard to understand about that? Humans, such stupid apes you are that you think every piece of free space is yours!" he growled as he looked down at her.

Instantaneously, all of Rose's cheer left not only her face, but her whole body as well. Any other day and she'd probably have a quick quip of how particular he was being, but it wasn't any other day for her and she felt hurt.

So, instead of yelling back or rolling her eyes, she simply placed the mugs quietly down on the counter, sidestepped the Doctor and walked out of the room.

**xoxo**

The Doctor stood dumbfounded in the kitchen. He heard Rose's bedroom door close softly down the hallway.

Was it because he'd yelled? Called her 'stupid ape'? He figured that perhaps he had gone a bit overboard - it's not like he minded her things along the console usually - he just liked things to be neat along his controls.

Then he finally took a look around at what Rose had been doing. The quickly cooling hot chocolate on the stove, the freshly baked cookies on the counter and then finally the can of whipped cream and containers of colored sprinkles. Red & green.

Of course. Christmas. He'd noted it the last time they visited her mum. He'd made a mental note to return so they could celebrate, but apparently he'd taken longer than usual to remember. It was no matter, he could take them there now...

Guilt dripped on his insides at the sudden realization. She had wanted to celebrate on the Tardis with him...probably thinking he didn't want to go back to Earth for her. And he'd just yelled at her for some inconsequential thing.

He rubbed his hand down his face and stood dumbly as he looked at what Rose had prepared.

Then, quietly, he got to work.

Awhile later, the Doctor stood outside Rose's door and knocked softly. "Rose? Can I...open the door?"

Quiet, and then, "As if you ever asked before..."

Taking that as a reluctant 'yes,' he turned the knob and pushed it open. Rose was sitting on her bed, reading a magazine. He rocked on his feet as he thought about how to proceed.

"Could you...could you come with me?"

The question was oddly soft coming from him and perhaps that's why Rose looked up quizzically.

"It's just...there's something...can you just come with me...uh...please," he made a face, as if those words had never met his lips before.

Rose continued looking confused, "Uh, sure, I guess."

And so the Doctor walked on ahead of her, but slowed his steps until he could hear her behind him.

He led her to the TV room and turned quickly to watch the understanding on her face.

The Christmas lights he'd spent the last hour dangling from any corner he could shone on her smooth skin. Her face was awash in shock as she took in the sight before her. The lights and holly hung around the room. On the coffee table, in front of the slightly worn green couch, sat two large mugs of hot chocolate with whipped cream piled atop each with sprinkles adorning them as well. The cookies she had baked were in a small mountain on a plate. A tower of Christmas DVDs was piled near the TV.

"Doctor, what is...all this?" her voice held the kind of wonder he'd often hear whenever they landed on a new planet. It made his hearts melt.

"Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler," he whispered, a large and goofy grin on his face.

Rose's shock grew to an array of happiness as she ran to hug him, a brilliant smile now shining on her lips.

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><p><em>More coming each day this week! Hope you enjoy :D<em>


	2. Snow Angels & Mistletoe

_I'm sorry - they are sadder than I meant them to be lol but they do end happy in my opinion :)_

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><p><em><span>snow angels<span>_

"Oh, it's gorgeous!" exclaimed Rose as they stepped out of the Tardis into the chilly air.

Their footsteps crunched into the snow, the sound loud in their ears since no one else was around. Mounds of snow covered the lonely landscape and their breath came out in clouds of white. The Doctor smiled as Rose ran a bit ahead, her laughter ringing in the air.

His coat swished around his legs as he walked to meet up with her since she had disappeared behind one of the larger masses of snow. He could almost hear her smile and when she came into view, he could see why. Rose was down on her back, arms spread and leg pushing away the snow.

A snow angel. He should have known. It was one of those things he disliked about Christmas time. They should have gone to her mum's instead, he thought.

Despite what she was doing, the Doctor laughed and said, "Rose, what do you think you're doing?" A smirk lined his lips.

Rose smiled as she cheekily said, "A snow angel."

"You're going to catch a cold," he chided, but still with a grin on his face.

She refused to get up and the Doctor's smile eventually melted into a grimace of annoyance. Above all, even pears, he disliked snow angels the most. It was a constant remembrance of ever-existing irritation. He crossed his arms to his chest, an action that reminded him of his ninth life. He was feeling just as broody.

Eventually, Rose decided to stand up and was dusting the snow off her jeans and bright pink coat. The Doctor had made her wear a scarf and gloves as well, so it was a bit hard to maneuver.

"What exactly," she took a hard breath as she was a bit tired from the snow angel-ing, "is your problem with snow angels, Doctor?" Rose walked up to him so she could see him clearly against the brightness of the sun behind him.

"Nothing," he pouted.

She looped her arm through his, even though they were tight against his body, and placed her head on his upper arm. "Come on, you can tell me...had a bad experience with a snow angel?" She really meant to get him to cheer up, but he was acting so much like a child that she couldn't help herself.

"It's not funny Rose! I'll have you know that I'm the...," his voice trailed off and the look in his eyes let Rose know that there was so much more to snow angels than what she thought...and it was something that was very embarrassing for him. The Doctor's cheeks burned a bright red - a sight she hadn't seen in this body yet.

Oh, she was going to find out, they both knew that already.

Rose tickled his side, "You might as well tell me, yea'? We both know I'll find out somehow." She beamed up at him with that irresistible smile. He groaned.

"No, you're only going to tease and..."

"Did someone throw you into the snow or something?" she asked, honestly curious.

The Doctor looked suddenly very defensive as he started babbling, "I'll have you know that it was not fair! Throwing a child onto the snow like that when he has absolutely no idea what it was to begin with...and wearing such a heavy coat to begin with, couldn't get up mind you and I started moving all over the place and when..."

He had to stop talking as Rose was too busy trying to conceal her laughter behind her gloves.

Sighing, obviously feeling defeated, he finished, "And when they finally helped me up they said that what I left behind looked like an angel, something you humans were infatuated with, so after that they started throwing themselves back into the snow and imitating one of my most humiliating moments and then laughing about it."

Rose stopped giggling as she saw that the Doctor did indeed seem hurt at the memory. Feeling ashamed all of a sudden, she smiled apologetically and leaned against him again in a half-hug.

"I'm sorry Doctor." Whether if it was because of the memory of humiliation or the nostalgia of what he no longer, she didn't know. She was sorry for it all.

She felt his body release some of its tension as he moved his arms from in front of him and instead placed one around her back, hugging her to him.

"No need Rose. Don't know why it upsets me so much now," his voice was quiet. It reminded her of her previous Doctor.

"I don't need to know why it upsets you. I just need to know how to make it better, yea'?" she hugged him tighter around his waist.

"Oh, I don't...," but he was interrupted by Rose pushing him back against the snow, landing half on top of him.

Rose laughed at the surprise in his face and instead of letting him ask what she was doing, she tickled his sides.

He tried to protest, but the laughter wouldn't let him. 

_mistletoe_

"Doctor, I hope you don't mind, but Amy insisted on decorating around the Tardis a bit," Rory explained.

The Doctor, working on something on the console's screen, hardly paid him attention. Christmas wasn't something he was keen on discussing at the moment. He mumbled something that he hoped would placate his companion as he flipped a switch and started scribbling furiously on a piece of paper.

He turned to grab an instrument when his face came into contact with some sort of plant that was hanging from a bar near his screen. When he realized that it was a piece of mistletoe, he stopped suddenly. His hand, free of his own wants, touched it and instantly, an collection of memories flooded his mind. It took him awhile to realize that Rory was still in the room and speaking to him.

"Doctor? Doctor, are you alright?" his voice was worried, and the tone only made the Doctor that much more disoriented with nostalgia.

"The mistletoe...why...," he didn't know what he was asking, so he couldn't continue.

"Oh, well, like I was telling you, Amy wanted to decorate a bit for Christmas and she asked me to add some touches here and there and, no offense Doctor, but you're not going to kiss my wife so I just placed it there," he half-smiled.

But again, the Doctor wasn't quite listening and instead went back to stare at his screen. Feeling that there wasn't much else to say, Rory left to find where his wife had gotten to.

Once he'd felt Rory's presence disappear, the Doctor leaned against a railing and stared at the mistletoe. Memories of Christmases long gone, a time of different faces and friends, so fresh in his mind. He had told her once that it was the curse of the Time Lords - watching those around him wither while he kept on.

That was part of it. Watching them leave him. But the other part was being left with their memories.

The way she'd smile with her tongue against her teeth. Or how she'd laugh with her whole body. It made him smile then and even now as his hearts felt broken.

It wasn't just her, it happened with them all. But it hurt with her most of all.

The mistletoe was the worst. It reminded him of the Christmas party at Jackie's, how they'd kissed briefly to satisfy the crowd when caught underneath it. Or so he told himself.

It reminded him of the soft but lingering kiss they'd shared as they found themselves under mistletoe that had somehow been strung up on the entrance to the library. They'd joked about customs and traditions, but kissed anyways. They laughed about it after as well, but he knew that it was mere tradition wouldn't have convinced him to kiss her. He didn't need to be convinced.

As the memories inundated his mind, he could feel himself smile just as involuntary as when he wanted to kiss her then. He didn't need thought when it came to her - it simply was.

So it might be the curse of the Time Lords, the blight of remembering every little thing about every person that was and left him, but he couldn't help but smile at the memory of his pink and yellow human who left him with much more than just memories.

And he hoped with all that he could still muster, that somewhere she was making more memories.


	3. The Doctor & Rose  Christmas cookies

_These were based on photo prompts - hope you enjoy them!_

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><p><em>[photo: The Doctor &amp; Rose outside the Powell Estate circa The Christmas Invasion]<em>

Rose found that she couldn't stop staring at him. His disheveled hair that looked like he'd spent hours perfecting it was probably the aspect that she simply could not get her mind wrapped around. She was used to not much being _there, _honestly.

The pinstripe suit, the long coat - it was all so new. It fit him more than nicely, but she found herself missing the black leather and jeans along with the heavy boots. His trainers would be good for running, she pondered.

There was something about him, however, that struck her as not having changed a bit.

"Rose, you alright?" his eyes were filled with concern as he looked down at her. The ash they had mistaken as snow was falling around them. Her mum and Mickey were off talking to others from the estate, leaving them quite alone.

She looked at him and gave him a sheepish grin, "I'm alright, just...different is all."

The Doctor looked down at his trainers and looked up at her again, a strand of hair falling onto his eyes. One thing was for sure, he still had that way of making her heart beat faster than it should.

"Is that, bad?" his question came out in a whisper, as if he was afraid of the answer.

Rose smiled, more whole-heartedly this time, "Different isn't bad at all Doctor. Merry Christmas."

He held out his hand, his mouth set with a huge grin, the one physical aspect that had remained unchanged. It was still as full and bright as ever. It made her heart flutter as she joined her hand with his.

**xoxo**

****_[photo: Christmas cookies]_

"What is all this?"

The Doctor looked around the mess that was once Jackie's somewhat clean kitchen table. Biscuits in all kinds of shapes and sizes were in piles on plates. Tubes of white, green and red icing, confetti sprinkles and crystallized sugar littered whatever cleared spaces there might have been.

Jackie looked at him incredulously as she got up to serve him a cuppa. He made a face. He really did not want to be in Rose's mother's flat, but they had been traveling for awhile and since it the next day was Christmas, the Doctor felt obliged to have Rose celebrate with her mum. Rose had told him that he could leave and come back to pick her up, but she'd given him a poignant look mixed with that thing she did with her eyes and before he knew it, he was dragging himself into her mum's flat.

Rose picked up a biscuit in the shape of a tree and reached for the green icing and sugar crystals. "They're biscuits, Doctor. You know that. Want to help me decorate?" She looked up at him and he noticed that there was a spot of green icing near her mouth.

The Doctor shrugged off his jacket, draped it on the back of the chair and sat down. Before thinking twice, he leaned towards her, held her chin with one hand while he rubbed at the icing near her lip with his thumb. She dropped the cookie she had been working on, breaking it into halves and stared at him with wide eyes. He pretended not to notice.

After the icing was gone, he held her chin for a moment, staring at her. The moment was broken, however, when Jackie set down the mug on the table in front of him...loudly. He didn't look up at her and instead moved his hands to cuppa, bringing it to his mouth for a deep taste.

"Delicious," he said, his voice hoarse. Jackie gave him a look and then went back to the living room where they heard her turn on the TV.

The Doctor picked up a biscuit in the shape of a star and flipped it using his long fingers. Rose picked up the pieces of the broken tree and ate each one.

"What color should the star be, you think?" she asked him as she watched the star turn over with his fingers.

"Well, it doesn't seem like any of these colors would suffice the real color of a star..." his voice trailed off. He tried his best not to look at her.

Rose sighed and picked up another tree and got to work on it with the green icing.

Knowing that she was concentrating at the task at hand, he stole a glance at her. Her blond hair was piled into a ponytail, but wisps of it had escaped and they framed her face and fell onto her eyes.

He took the tube of red icing and piled some onto the biscuit shaped like a star and then picked up the tube of white icing and piled it on top of the red. The Doctor sensed Rose's attention on him, but he again refused to look at her.

Taking a butter knife, he mixed the icings as best as he could until they formed a pale pink color. When it did, he spread the icing across its five points. He smiled, taking pleasure in his finished product.

The Doctor looked up to find Rose staring at him curiously. She startled and smiled an awkward smile.

"A pink star isn't really right for Christmas, is it Doctor?" the question had a teasing ring to it.

He smiled at her and handed her the star. Looking confused, she took it in her hand and looked at him questioningly.

"It's not meant for Christmas Rose, it's for you. Merry Christmas," his eyes softened and there was a sweet smile on his lips. He picked up a biscuit the shape of Santa Claus and tried to ignore the blush on Rose's cheeks as she looked at him incredulously.

"Merry Christmas...Doctor," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. It made his hearts skip a beat.

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><p><em>Hope you enjoyed!<em>


	4. Gift & Cold

_gift_

The Doctor was sitting down in the library on the Tardis. The long green couch that had seen better days felt extremely comfortable underneath him. The flames of the fire he had kindled in the fireplace was crackling. _A Christmas Carol_ was sitting open on his lap, but he had lost focus on it awhile ago. His arm was on the armrest, his hand cradling the side of his head. He stared at the decorations his most recent companion had strung up.

There was tinsel EVERYWHERE, a tree in the corner decorated extensively as well as three stockings hanging along the mantle. One was a purple and it had Rose's name in glitter, another was dark green with his namesake and the third one was a deep blue with his ship's name so meticulously written on the front.

He smiled at the sight of it. An wide range of individuals had passed through his ship's doors. They had all meant something to him at some point, but as each one came through and back out the doors, he'd learned to move on. Through each of those instances, however, not one had actually treated the Tardis like a sentient being. She'd always been his reliable companion and so he thought of her as living and breathing because she was. It was a completely novel feeling for him to realize that someone else thought the same as well.

"Doctor, thought you might like some tea," Rose's voice startled him as she walked in with two steaming mugs filled with the tea he'd begun to look forward to. The feeling unnerved him.

She handed him a mug, placed her own on the coffee table and sat down near him. He watched her as he took a long sip of his drink. She was wearing black sweats, a loose white t-shirt and her hair was piled messily atop her head. Her feet were bare and the glimpse of pink nail polish on her toes made him smile again. He didn't understand why.

"Do you think it looks nice?" she asked softly.

He averted his eyes before she could catch him looking at her. Placing his mug on the table, he responded with a , "What?"

"The Tardis. The decorations. Do you think she likes them?"

The question made his attention snap back to her, "What?" The word sounded more surprised now than ignored.

Rose looked at him and rolled her eyes, "Do you think she likes the decorations, Doctor." Each word was spoken with such slow attention that he hoped she didn't think he'd lied about being as smart of a being as he truly was.

"I'm...it...she seems to enjoy having someone who enjoys getting into the holidays aboard," it was the only thing he could think of saying, mostly because it was true. The Tardis had been humming with something like happiness since Rose had first joined them.

Rose gave him a huge grin and then leaned back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. She was still smiling.

The Doctor sat incredulous while looking at her because the gaze in her eyes was unmistakably filled with love for the Tardis.

While looking at her, his hearts beat quicker and harder than they had in awhile.

**xoxo**

_cold_

Rose walked on the snow with small steps. It was Christmas Eve 1984 in some small town in the United States. As far as she could understand, the town they were in was located in a desert. It was cold, but bearable and the Doctor had gone to look for some hot chocolate for them.

It was quiet in the center of town. The Doctor explained that not everywhere did the people bustle until the wee hours, even on Christmas Eve. The square had a large tree, nothing compared to the one she'd seen photos of or on TV in New York City, but a big tree nonetheless. She looked up towards the mountains that seemed to hug the city and stared at the enormous star that had been formed with lights on the side of one of them. Rose then looked up into the sky and realized she could see the sprinkle of real stars, ones she had been traveling around for awhile now. It made her smile.

"Here it is Rose, best kind of hot chocolate there is," she heard him say as he handed her a Styrofoam cup filled to the brim with the steaming liquid.

She blew to cool it as much as she could and took a sip. It actually was delicious.

"It's made with hardened Mexican chocolate," he explained. Taking another sip, she could see why they had stopped here. A trip well-justified, she thought.

They drank and finished their chocolate in pleasant silence, throwing their cups when they were done. The liquid had made her body warm as she was drinking it, but it's absence made her feel the cold deeper into her bones.

Noticing this, the Doctor said, "Oh, almost forgot, brought these along...just in case."

After digging into his pockets, he unearthed a pair of rainbow-colored mittens. The Doctor grabbed her hands and, one by one, placed each of the mittens on her hands. Then he took her hands in his and blew his warm breath into them. Instantly, she could feel the warmth returning to her hands and all throughout the body.

And inside, she knew that it was because of much more than the hot chocolate and mittens.

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><p><em>Hope you liked!<em>


	5. Legos & the Night Before Christmas

_Legos_

The Doctor walked around the gleaming white tenth floor of the hospital in search of Rose. Only hours before, they had successfully figured out one of the nurses was actually just another resident of the planet Klom. It really made sense out of the disappearances they had seen of both the employees and patients for the past month.

The tenth floor was the children's ward and since it was the holidays, streamers, tinsel and other holiday items decorated the hall and its doors. He'd seen a few children walking with nurses or their parents looking gloomy. He'd smiled at each of them and it elicited a small grin in exchange. It seemed that the place was in need of some cheer. If Rose was anywhere, it had to be here, he thought.

Just then, the Doctor heard familiar laughter from one of the rooms nearby. He smiled and continued walking, following the sound that brought him a surprising happiness.

Through the clear windows of the room, he could see Rose sitting on the floor surrounded by children who were sitting in small chairs at an equally smaller table. On said table there were hundreds of little colorful blocks.

The Doctor leaned against the doorframe and watched as Rose helped a little girl build something that looked like a log cabin...without the logs. He could also see a little boy hanging off to her other side looking admiringly at her. Yeah, age didn't seem to matter when it came to admiring one Rose Tyler.

"So - here you are," he said as he approached Rose and the children.

Rose looked up at him and, if even physically possible, grinned even wider, "Doctor! Sorry I ran off, I got distracted." The little boy who had been looking at her got closer to her while looking at the Doctor oddly.

"Clearly," he responded, raising an eyebrow to the boy.

She followed his line of sight and rolled her eyes.

"I always wanted a large lot of Legos like these, so when I saw them playing - well, I got a bit distracted is all," she gave a shrug of shoulder and continued helping build what now looked like a fort.

The Doctor couldn't help but let the warmth that the sight caused in him spread further into his body.

So, instead of hurrying her along into another adventure, he found a normal-sized chair to sit on and watched as Rose played with the children that only grew more enamored of her while a Christmas carol played somewhere in the distance.

**xoxo**

_'Twas the Night Before Christmas_

Rose poured the steaming hot tea into two large black mugs. It was quiet in the apartment aside from the carols playing in the background on the stereo. She gently blew at the tea so it could cool off a bit faster as she picked them up and very carefully walked through the kitchen to the living room.

Refusing to take her eyes off the mugs (she didn't want to spill anything on their plush white carpet - perhaps the Doctor was right when he said white wasn't the best pick of a color...or lack thereof...), she took small steps until she could safely place them on the coffee table. She let out a breath of relief and joined the Doctor who was sitting peacefully on the couch...looking at her with a smirk on his face. He didn't need to be laughing for her to know that he was amused at her habits. Things just never got old for him.

She snuggled up next to him and pulled her legs up and underneath her. Instantly, he placed his arm around her, hugging him even closer to her. Together, they watched their Christmas tree which was located off in the corner. Its lights reflected off of all the possible surfaces, making the room colorful in its dimness.

"Our first Christmas together," he whispered, a smile in every word. She felt a kiss in her hair.

Rose draped an arm around him and gave him a tight squeeze, "Wish you were out traveling amongst the stars?" It had been a year since that final time on Bad Wolf Bay, but she couldn't completely let go of her worries. They had pretty much dissolved, but every once in awhile, she could feel them.

The Doctor sighed, "The only reason why I'd want to be out there again, is if you were with me, Rose." She felt his fingertips under her chin, leading her to face him. When she did, he missed no time in placing her lips on hers, giving her a deep kiss that made her skin chill and her body sigh. His touch never failed to do that to her.

They kissed for awhile, losing time in their touches. Then they sat quietly, each at peace.

"Read me something?" Rose asked quietly, not looking at him.

He kissed her hair, "What would you like?"

She sighed, "Anything."

"Alright, give me a moment," and he made to get up, settling Rose tenderly aside while he went to the bookshelf and selected a slim hardback text. She tried to look at the title when he returned, but he purposely hid it from her. Rose stuck her tongue out at him, but smiled as she returned to snuggling his side once he sat down.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Always," she responded.

The Doctor gathered her closer to him as he started, "'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse..."

And Rose's smile grew as she closed her eyes and let the Doctor's voice be her lullaby.

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><p><em>I hope you enjoyed these! Happy holidaysMerry Christmas!_


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